After a record salmon year on the Klamath River, the Hoopa Valley Tribe is voicing concerns that low water flows this winter will harm the fish, especially the endangered coho salmon. Other Klamath agencies disagree, saying there was no choice, and proper study and precaution has been taken.

"If this is any indication of the (Bureau of Reclamation's) future water planning, I do not see how the salmon can recover," said Hoopa Valley Tribal Chairman Leonard Masten in a statement.

Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon, which feeds the Klamath River, is at an 18-year low. The lake provides water to Klamath basin farmers, wetlands, downstream reservoirs like Iron Gate, all while maintaining flows in the river itself. The Bureau of Reclamation manages flows coming out of Upper Klamath Lake, and said it has no choice but to hold back on water releases this winter. Bureau spokesman Kevin Moore said his agency consulted closely with the National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure salmon go unaffected.

Both Hoopa and Karuk tribe representatives showed recent concern over how reduced flows will affect the record-breaking salmon season, mostly made up of chinook, and the river ecosystem on the whole. In a press release, the Hoopa tribe said the low levels violate Endangered Species Act flows for coho salmon. The two tribes also have conflicting opinions on how best to proceed this winter, given the less-than-optimal circumstances with a record-low lake.

At issue is a 2010 "biological opinion" by the National Marine Fisheries Service that stipulates a minimum flow level in the river to protect the coho. The opinion says flows for the next two months should not go below 1,300 cubic feet per second below Iron Gate Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation plans to run the flows at 1,000 CFS through December, which does not include added wintertime rain and runoff. One CFS equals 7.48 gallons per second.

Irma Lagomarsino, the National Marine Fisheries Service Northern California Office supervisor, said the 2010 biological opinion also has a term and condition allowing the Bureau of Reclamation and NMFS to drop flows below Iron Gate Dam to under 1,300 CFS, if certain conditions are met. She said both her agency and the BOR analyzed whether lowering flows would harm coho, and they determined it would not.

"We felt there are some situations where the flows could be lower," she said.

Regina Chichizola, a spokeswoman for the Hoopa Tribe, said the tribe is especially concerned lower winter flows would have an acute effect so soon after such a prosperous salmon season. She highlighted the coho salmon as the largest potential victim.

"We have argued ecological collapse affects coho, specifically," said Robert Franklin, a Hoopa senior hydrologist. "Baby coho are quite active this time of year. They need to be able to swim in and out of tributaries and up and down the river."

The young coho leave the river in spring for the ocean. There, they spend one to three years before returning to spawn. Coho are about two feet long on average, and usually weigh seven to 11 pounds. They go from silver and dark blue hues while in the ocean, but turn bright red when they return to fresh water.

Chichizola said this is the second time flow agreements have been violated in the last two years. She said those actions give the river, "a continual air of lawlessness."

'Rock-bottom levels'

A massive 2002 fish kill on the Klamath -- resulting in the death of more than 60,000 migrating Chinook salmon -- is mentioned in the Hoopa press release, and remains on some salmon advocates' minds. Chichizola and Franklin said the tribe is more concerned about dangerous, long-term effects on the fish and river, not a repeat of 2002.

"We're looking at trying to get above those rock-bottom levels," Franklin said. He cited a late Thanksgiving-time run of Chinook that could also be affected by low flows.

The Bureau of Reclamation began releasing additional water on Aug. 15 from the Trinity River reservoir to supplement flows in the lower Klamath River. In an August Times-Standard story, Sarah Borok, and environmental scientist with Department of Fish and Game said the release has the water flowing at about 3,200 cubic feet per second. In 2002, when the fish kill occurred, the water was flowing at 1,800 cubic feet per second. Borok said fast water flows give the fish more room to avoid what she calls, "Kindergarten Syndrome."

"When the water is running too slow, the fish will bunch in close together," she said. "That is bad because if one of them is sick it increases the odds of them all getting sick."

The Hoopa Tribe made their case in a recent letters to the National Marine Fisheries Service in Arcata and the Bureau of Reclamation, saying reduced flows would be "ecologically unsound," and even illegal.

The Hoopa letter to the NMFS called the August Trinity release a "substantial investment in protecting this run against possible fish disease."

"It seems illogical that this substantial federal investment would now be abandoned, leaving salmon to fend for themselves against unreasonably low winter flows that are scientifically known to be ecologically unacceptable."

The letter continues, "Of all years, this is the worst possible year for reducing winter flows in the Klamath River ..."

Demanding winter flows a mistake?

Craig Tucker, a Klamath campaign coordinator for the Karuk tribe, said he has similar concerns as the Hoopa about the impacts of low-flow levels on salmon. He said the Hoopa Valley Tribe might be making a mistake in demanding more winter water.

"We're more concerned about low flows in spring," he said. Strong spring flows are crucial, he said, especially in getting salmon juveniles flushed out of the system.

Tucker said he would rather temper flows now and fill up Upper Klamath Lake with plenty of water as an insurance policy for spring, in case of a dry winter.

"The problem is, you don't know whether you're going to have a wet winter or a dry winter," he said. If flows are held back now, and it turns out to be a wetter than usual winter, Tucker said that's OK too. When the Upper Klamath Lake floods, that's healthy for downstream ecosystems.

Moore agreed. He said big releases mid-winter due to storms mimic a natural, undammed river, and are healthy for salmon. Moore questioned whether people would even notice a difference of 300 CFS down the river.

Tucker said it seems Upper Klamath Lake was mismanaged and overdrafted this year. Too much water went to other major interest groups like Klamath basin farmers, wetlands, and wildlife refuges. Moore had two explanations for the record-low lake levels. He said his department bases water deliveries to various groups off of a Natural Resources Conservation Service forecast, and that forecast was inaccurate this year. Last year's winter was particularly dry, he said, resulting in lake inflow being 76 percent of average.

He explained with a low lake, his department comes up against two competing environmental standards. On one side, they must keep flows high enough in the Klamath River to not place coho and other species in danger. Moore said the bureau also must keep enough water in the lake to mitigate any risk to two other fish species that live there -- the endangered shortnose and Lost River suckers.

"That's the whole struggle here," Tucker said. "How you balance it all so everyone gets their needs met is unclear to me. But given the position we're in, I want to fill up that lake. We want to go along with that. If Hoopa got what they wanted, and we got a drought spring, everybody is going to be mad at Hoopa."

Franklin, the Hoopa hydrologist, calls low spring flows an "unknown risk." What he said he does know is that flows are too low right now, which needs to be addressed.

After an analysis, the National Marine Fisheries Service thought lower flows would both help refill Upper Klamath Lake, and help increase spring flows for coho, Lagomarsino said. She said her department also ensured lower flows would not affect coho in the short term this winter.

"I don't see it as a tradeoff," between flows in winter or flows in spring, Lagomarsino said. "I don't see coho as even effected by this November-December period."

She said 1,000 CFS is enough to provide "a lot of spawning habitat" for coho.

Whether decreased flows are eventually deemed ecologically harmful, a record salmon season has brought heightened awareness of flows and conditions on the Klamath.

"We've had this amazingly strong run of fish this year," Tucker said. "I think we're trying to figure out what this means."